This production of Shakespeare's character rich play set the land of fairies, lovers, and mechanicals in an Athens with classical inspiration and steam punk dreams. Todd's music for the play weaved into the mix of characters a tapestry built on the timeless fairies with pure, percussive rhythms. As mystic powers meddled with the mortal world for justice and entertainment, the score explored the interwoven layers of ancient and modern lives wrapped up together on one midsummer's night.

In this staged workshop production of the folk opera Hadestown, Todd collaborated with writer Anais Mithcell, director Rachel Chavkin, and many of the original Off-Broadway cast members to develop and explore the path to the underworld that's led by the wants of gods and lovers.

This conference workshop engaged high school students in discussions about the theatrical sound design process. Workshop topics included the audience perspective of sound design for plays and musicals, the sound design research process, editing sound effects and music to suit a specific scene, and controlling live and cued sounds with digital tools. Audio samples and documentation from Todd's sound design work were presented as examples and resources were shared related to the organizations, resources, and other tools available to sound designers today.

Dance In Flight is an annual dance production at Pepperdine University, with this year's program featuring 51 dancers in 16 choreographed pieces that explored the opposing forces of technology and nature.

The performance began with a focus on humans' relationships to machines and how our technology reflects modern culture through instant access to information, social media, and reality television. Throughout the performance pieces examined the needed connections to the natural world of love and relationships, as well as paths to experience the beauty and wisdom of the world around us.

The Amazing Food Detective-Game On is a obesity prevention/health and nutrition focused play that follows three fifth grade students searching for their health teacher after a mishap with a new classroom computer game. Performances of this program are given free of charge in Southern California public schools to over 20,000 grade 3-5 students every year.

The play features original music and video projection in sync with over 10,000 led's built into the walls of the set to create a realized video game environment that surrounds the students as they face the challenges of making healthy decisions. Todd’s contributions to the creation of this project include roles as sound designer, show control system designer, and all lighting and video programming.

ShadowStage Productions' contemporary shadow theatre film, Hang Ups, is part of an original interdisciplinary arts installation that was premiered at the Odeon, Wimbledon. Hang Ups integrated cinematic techniques into the company's developing repertoire as the UK's first professional company dedicated to contemporary shadow theatre. This work also opened the 2011 Five Minute Festival at the Lost Theatre, London.

The 21st annual Simply Shakespeare benefit event for the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles was held at UCLA's 1,800 seat Royce Hall. This staged reading of The Merry Wives of Windsor was set in the American West and the performance included live music and comedic improv from the cast of veteran actors.

During the condensed, one-day rehearsal process that included a morning table reading, an afternoon staging rehearsal, and a single, public evening performance, Todd worked alongside the cast to create soundscapes for the play's variety of locations and moods and also contributed setup and punctuation sound cues for the quickly developed comic ideas from the director and cast.

For this play Todd mentored undergraduate sound designer Sinan Zafar in his first fully supported Univ of CA-Irvine, Drama Department production. Throughout the creative process, both Sinan and Todd explored the dramatic, acoustic, technical, and interpersonal avenues a sound designer ventures down to develop as an engaged artist.

This production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible placed a creative focus on the role of the entire community in this dramatic allegory and was produced in a contemporary setting with elements of abstracted realism to focus the audience not on the historical context, but on the fundamental elements of humanity the play displays. Within each scene the sound design used abstracted musical and realistic sound elements to keep the pressures of public community life in constant view.

As part of the sound design process for The Crucible, Todd composed a two-movement score for string quartet, trombone, and percussion. This piece was recorded with studio musicians and used throughout the play to connect the audience from the dramatic action concluding each scene to the examination of the direct results of these actions at beginning of the next scene.

Jay and E and the ZigZag Sea is a literacy focused play that creates a text rich, storybook environment while encouraging early elementary students to use the power of words and reading. Performances of this program are given free of charge in Southern California public schools to over 15,000 K-2 students every year.

The play features an original score and uses video projected shadow puppetry and text as a medium for storytelling in a dynamic environment with live actor interaction. Todd’s contributions to the creation of this project include roles as sound designer, music arranger, and all video editing and programming.

For this production of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, the characters' indulgent excesses were presented in both a realistic 1920's apartment setting and through vaudeville performance acts as a direct address to the audience.

The sound design for the production supported the contrasting styles of the play by using the Variable Room Acoustic System (VRAS) in the house of theater to change the reverb and dynamics of the space relevant to the storytelling. As moments arose where the characters began to address the audience directly, the theater space would shift from a vibrant apartment setting to a warm, live concert hall with the singer's voice surrounding the audience.

Where the Streets Have No Names is an original musical with book written by Ryan Peregrin and the songs of U2 used to set the story of an Irish priest in a war-torn African country finding the limits of his faith and love.

As part of the original creative team for this project, Todd created vocal and music arrangements for the musical's score. During early readings of the play Todd also acted as the production's music director and he continues to explore the depth and statement this music is capable of while the project continues its development process.

What Goes Around is a high school focused production that incorporates modern teenage communication via text, social media, and live video chatting into the play as a way to connect with the student audience and convey health information on issues related to safe sex and personal responsibility. Performances of this program are given free of charge in Southern California public schools to over 50,000 grade 9-12 students every year.

In addition to creating a sound design that features realistic and abstract environments, original and popular music, and cell phones that ring, text, and video conference, Todd designed the production's sound and video playback system to give the actors live control of these elements while they perform on stage. Todd also functions as video programmer for the show's dual projection screens that display laptop and cell phone interfaces, create scenic environments, and communicate health related information.

Escape From Happiness is an absurdly dark and comic story told from the kitchen of a modern family struggling with their own internal relationships when they are suddenly faced with opposing forces from outside their house.

As the composer for a score that features vocalist Mattie Mills and tenor saxaphonist Walker Davis, Todd wrote a collection of retro-soul songs that were recorded and used as music from the kitchen radio during the play. These songs set the pace of the stage action and created comic contrasts during dramatic moments of the play in addition to serving as a connection for the audience during the transitions from one scene to the next.

This course covers topics on the design of live sound reinforcement systems including gain structure, principles and operation of wireless microphones, and critical listening/performance acoustics. Both group discussion and practical hands on training are elements of this course with individual student assessments of ability to implement sound system setup and troubleshooting skills.

This new play by Tira Palmquist is set in a dystopian future where bees have disappeared and humans aren't far behind, since crops must now be pollinated by hand. The play's story follows the maturing young woman Mel, who meets an injured explorer in the remote and struggling orchard where she works and is sheltered from the outside world.

The realistic and abstract soundscapes for this production included elements of distant radio broadcasts, unseen characters and forces that only communicate through Mel's walkie talkie, children's pollinating songs, and shifting winds over nature's bitter landscapes.

For the premiere of this one-act play by Brooke Berman set in a modern hotel room in the title city, Todd's original electronic score for Amsterdam focused on the nostalgic fantasies that arise as a newly romantic couple explores their current relationship relative to their romantic pasts.

As a graduate teaching assistant from Sept 2008 - June 2011 at the Univ. of California-Irvine, Todd served as a teacher and mentor for undergraduate students from the Drama, Music, and Dance departments on academic and practical application of sound design and audio technology principles.

Responsibilities included assisting with undergraduate Intro to Sound Design class lectures and demonstrations as well as training and supervision of undergraduate students for Drama Department sound system load-ins, backstage operations, and audio shop repairs as elements of credited undergraduate practical courses.

In this production of John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation the director and designers sought to create a balance on stage that allowed the audience to shift from the plot's reality into the dreams and memories that shape the characters' ability to make true existential connections or reduce their personal interactions to party anecdotes. This production, created by the Brooklyn company The Gallery Players, also sought to present New York City life in a light that would also have a first-degree connection to its local audience.

Todd's sound design for this play included original music, written and recorded on upright bass, that laid out the pulse of New York City and underscored the search for a link between the shared imagination and dreams of art dealers, con artists, husbands, wives, parents, and children. The following year Playhouse on the Green in Bridgeport, CT also included Todd's original music in their production of this play.

This new musical version of Wllly Wonka was produced by the Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences on Tour and was the first authorized stage production to include songs from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film score. This tour performed in 75 US cities from Aug 2005 - May 2006 with an estimated 114,000 audience members.

This new musical version of Mark Twain's novel was written by playwright Ken Ludwig and composer and lyricist Don Schlitz. Following its original Broadway run, this tour was produced by the Kennedy Center for the Arts Theatre for Young Audiences on Tour program and from Sept 2004 - May 2005 toured 55 US cities with an estimated 80,000 audience members.

The instrumental music core of this period song and dance revuewas a pivotal factor in the Mac-Haydn Theatre's decision to place the 7-piece pit orchestra onstage, a setup never attempted before in this intimate, 330-seat theater-in-the-round. The particular challenge with this pit location was that some members of the audience would be seated as little as 6 feet from the musicians while the rest of the audience would be seated as far as 70 feet away from the band, with a chorus of singers and dancers performing onstage between them.

Through coordination with the scenic design, a bandstand was created with allowances for acoustic treatment to shape the sound levels immediately surrounding the musicians without hindering the musical and monitoring needs of the group. This acoustic treatment, along with supportive vocal and instrumental reinforcement created a versatile performing space, tuned to the needs of the audience and all performers involved.

This children's opera version of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Emperor's New Clothes was produced by the Kennedy Center for the Arts Theatre for Young Audiences on Tour program. From Sept 2003 - Feb 2004 this production toured 37 US cities with an estimated 38,000 audience memebers.

Throughout the creative process for The Secret Garden the director and designers were challenged to create two casts of characters; those of the real world and the group referred to as 'Dreamers' that represent ghosts of dead loved ones, memories of events past, and the invisible support a struggling child may call on in a time of need.

These separate casts were supported through the sound design with live reverb and vocal effects that evolved as the story unfolded, intertwining the two worlds. As living characters would slip into habits of conversing with loved ones from the past, memory would blend with reality in audible shift that created a new plane where these mystical influences could touch the heart of the living and uncover a path to harmony in the present.

For the premiere of the one-act play Distance, by Joshua Lellis, Todd wrote and recorded solo piano works to underscore this modern play that observes 3 characters meeting amidst strained personal relationships after a long period apart.